Indianapolis Colts
2011 PFF All-AFC South Team
Day 3 of our All-Division Teams takes us to the AFC South which is currently in a state of flux. With no Peyton Manning it was anything but the status quo as the Texans managed to dominate a division they justly won, while overcoming a plethora of injuries in the process.
But what about the best players from the AFC South? Were the Texans able to make us much noise with our team as they did in the regular season? Or were the combined efforts of the Titans, Colts, and Jaguars enough to make this more of an AFC South team, and less of a Houston Texans team?
As ever, reading on provides the answers.
Re-Focused: Colts at Jaguars, Week 17
The nightmare is finally over for the Indianapolis Colts. They no longer have to suffer through the 2-14 season that was 2011, and can finally turn their attention toward rebuilding the franchise. Of course all of the talk centers around that quarterback prospect from Stanford, but many of the Colts’ key players will be free agents and they clearly lack depth throughout the roster. They have a lot more work to do to get the organization back on track. Sunday’s game was rather typical for the Colts as they turned the ball over and got gashed on the ground on their way to the 19-13 defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Jacksonville has earned a Top 10 draft pick of its own with a 5-11 record despite a much-improved defense. Their offseason will revolve around revamping a horrible passing game, most likely by finding some playmakers for QB Blaine Gabbert who struggled terribly in his rookie season. Like the Colts, organizational changes are ahead as they break in a new owner and search for the third head coach in franchise history. Read the rest of this entry »
Three to Focus on: Colts @ Jaguars, Week 17
It was just a little more than a year ago that the Jaguars went into Indianapolis with a chance to clinch the division. A loss by Jacksonville put both teams at 8-6–two more wins gave the Colts yet another division title while two more losses by the Jaguars ended their season.
This just shows how much can go wrong in a year without your starting quarterbacks. This is one of the few games without any playoff implications, and is the only Week 17 game that we knew had none weeks ago. If the Colts lose this game, they clinch the first overall pick in the draft … so at least we have that.
Even though other games will be viewed by more, the few of you watching this game still deserve to know what you can keep an eye on to keep it interesting. Here are three matchups to help decide who can enter the 2012 season already on a winning streak.
Re-Focused: Texans @ Colts, Week 16
Peyton who?
After a second win on the bounce, the Indianapolis Colts find themselves rolling at such a speed they may take themselves out of the position where they’re faced with a decision that will cause Bill Polian plenty of sleepless nights. It’s the reward for a team that looked like it had given up finding some fight, working within their own limitations to win football games that you really didn’t think they could.
Indeed when Indianapolis turned the ball over on their first offensive snap of the game, and the Houston Texans ran in it for six on their second, this had a feeling of another one of those Thursday Night Games where a team gets blown out. Instead the Colts got some excellent play from a guy you can’t help but feel happy for, and capitalized on a Texans team that had some big runs, but never stepped it up a gear to put their embattled rivals away. Let’s look at some of the most notable performances from the first game of Week 16.
Three to Focus On: Texans @ Colts, Week 16
When this game was put on the schedule, I’m positive that there were hopes that both teams would have a winning record and be fighting for the division title. Peyton Manning vs. Matt Schaub has made for some interesting games in the past, so back in April this matchup sure looked intriguing. Unfortunately, like most of the games that have ended up on Thursday Night Football, there is one clear favorite. T.J. Yates against Dan Orlovsky doesn’t quite have the same ring to it either, but we’ll work with what we have.
The Texans are in need of a Ravens loss or a Patriots collapse in both games in order to get a first-round bye. While that is unlikely to happen, it is still enough to give Houston a reason to give it their all against their division rival. Also lurking in the minds of the Texans is the fact that they haven’t won a single game in Indianapolis since their inception, losing by an average score of 33-17. The Colts were one of many teams to play spoiler last week, and they really hurt the Titans’ chances. Can they play spoiler to yet another team in the division? Here are the three matchups to help answer that question.
Re-Focused: Titans @ Colts, Week 15
It’s why we love the NFL. Just as we were all accepting the fact that the Packers would go undefeated and the Colts wouldn’t win a single game, both potential milestones get wiped off the map in the same week.
You have to wonder how much the Titans will look back on this one as a missed opportunity if they fail to make the playoffs. With a victory they would have been tied with the Bengals and Jets for the final wild card spot, which would be quite impressive in Mike Munchak’s first season.
The bigger story though is that after looking like the worst team to ever step onto an NFL field, the Colts found a way to win. This was a game that looked very much like both teams were playing to make the other team beat them because they didn’t make as many mistakes. That being said, the game did feature some key performances–both good and bad–including the best performance we’ve seen from a middle linebacker all year. So with that in mind, let’s take a look at the performances of note.
Three to Focus On: Titans @ Colts, Week 15
Time is rapidly running out for the Indianapolis Colts to win a game in 2011. If last week’s performance in Baltimore is anything to go by, no amount of time would be enough to help this team get that elusive “W”. All but locked in to the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, the Colts are now playing for what little pride they have left along with all of their, and head coach Jim Caldwell’s jobs.
The Tennessee Titans have quietly went about their business this year and as we head into the last three weeks of the season, sit right in the thick of the battle for a wildcard spot. The AFC South, however, is gone with Houston celebrating their first ever division title after a last-second victory over Cincinnati a week ago.
It’s a matchup that means more in terms of this season for the Titans, but will tell us a lot about how much the Colts’ players can fight to win in the last three weeks. So with that in mind, let’s take a look at the three areas to focus on this week.
Re-Focused: Colts @ Ravens, Week 14
After three surprising losses earlier in the year the Baltimore Ravens are finally beating the teams that they should. Just like last week’s win over the Cleveland Browns they looked comfortable throughout the second half and the score line doesn’t reflect the true ease with which this one was won as the Ravens head towards an almost certain playoff berth.
For the Colts it was another routine loss, poor quarterback play, poor blocking and poor play in coverage. Safe to say the Colts were pretty poor on Sunday and you really have to question how they can find a way to win a game this year, not that they deserve to – I personally haven’t seen a worse team in all my time watching football.
The game featured key performances, both good and bad, from both teams so with that in mind, let’s take a look at the performances that impacted the game on Sunday.
Three to Focus on: Colts @ Ravens, Week 14
Previous showdowns between these two in Baltimore would have induced much vitriol spewing from the home crowd towards the franchise that many still feels belongs to them (certainly the records) but, truth be told, there isn’t the same anger from the Baltimore fans this year because of just how bad the Colts have been. In fact, any anger from the stands this week is more likely to come from Indianapolis fans begging Baltimore to take the Colts back.
It continues to be a rough year for the Manning-less Colts with very little in the way of bright spots. They seem almost locked into the slot for the No. 1 draft pick and the opportunity to draft Andrew Luck.
For Baltimore, they know that they need to keep winning and ensure they finish the year with a record no worse than the Steelers – do that and they’ll top the division and host a playoff game for the first time in the Harbaugh-Flacco era. To do that they’ll need to avoid another slip-up to a team they should beat, so with that in mind, let’s take a look at the areas to focus on this week. Read the rest of this entry »
Re-Focused: Colts @ Patriots, Week 13
The rivalry of the century between the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots certainly lost some luster as future Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning was relegated to pregame autograph duty. Fellow future Hall of Famer Tom Brady played his usual role by picking apart the Colts’ soft coverages to lead the Patriots to a 31-3 fourth quarter advantage.
Straying from the script, the Colts made it interesting by scoring 21 unanswered points in the final frame, but fell short in the end. The late game “collapse” by the Patriots prolongs the weekly debate about whether or not their defense is championship caliber or destined to be overmatched come playoff time. They remain in a heated battle for home field advantage in the AFC and due to a relatively easy schedule the rest of the way, the questions about the defense will linger until the playoffs.
For the Colts, they look to be sick of all the talk about them tanking this season. Sure, the 2008 Lions will have to keep the champagne on ice for at least one more week as the Colts still have their record for futility in sight, but it’s not because of lack of effort. Indianapolis played this game until the end, they just didn’t have enough talent to compete. Colts fans, the nightmare of 2011 is almost over. Read the rest of this entry »
 |
|